Night Bedroom Antics

[MikeJillMonty]

Hi,

My wife and I have had Monty, a toy Yorkie for about 3 weeks now. He's a great, loveable dog. We're having a bit of a problem though regarding sleeping at night and we were wondering if anyone has any suggestions.

Anyways, we got him "used", he's 8.5 years old. But hes generally well behaved. But what he does at night is, he needs to go out to the bathroom, if not, if we let him roam out of the room, or even sometimes in the room, he'll poop or pee. I generally let him out at night around 11PM. and He's good till about 5AM, but lately its been earlier and my wife thinks it's because she immediately gets dressed and lets him out. So we're wondering if he's taking advantage of this.
We plan on trying to completely ignoring him for a couple of nights and see what he does. If that doesn't work, we may bring him up on the bed with us. So far, since day one, we never let him up on the bed with us.

Also, he still goes in the house sometimes. We feel he does it when we don't pay enough attention to him. He goes out enough and we pay enough attention though. But he's an extremely needy and dependent dog. He always likes to be with someone.

So any suggestions, greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Patti]

I would try putting him in your bed and that usually gets them to sleep longer. It's hard to break bad habits so try and nip it now. I have one that gets me up every couple of hours for no reason other than she wants a treat.

[Cinq1964]

What time is his last feeding? Nolee's last feeding is between 4 and 5pm. Nolee will wake me up to go potty during the nite, only when he is not feeling well. He does sleep in the bed with us and usually will sleep all nite, unless he gets too hot and will move to the end of the bed. Try stopping his feeding earlier, this my help. Good luck!

[Karrie]

If you don't want Monty in bed -and since this is a new home for him - its probably best to restrict his freedom until he learns the rules of the new home - i.e. potty training.

For example - at night, we kept Bailey in the bedroom with us but she didn't roam free in the room. Instead she was placed in a small area with a bed. We were able to put up a baby gate between our bed and dresser which created a small 3 x 4 space. Its better than a crate. An ex-pen is another alternative. (Bailey sleeps with us now, but that is our preference - I realize that its not for everyone).

I do believe that some dogs get in the habit of going out in the middle of the night - sometimes just for attention. So, if you believe that you might be getting abused - then simply say "no". However pick a reasonable time in the morning to let him out and be consistent. We let Bailey out at 5:30 am every morning - weekdays and weekends - its our routine and she can depend on us.

In the day time - he should be restricted to the family room (via baby gates) and supervised until accident free. Expand his freedom as it is earned. If you are unable to supervise during the day (i.e. work, chores, shopping) then put him in an ex-pen or block off a room while unsupervised.

Good luck and welcome to YT!

[livingdustmops]

I am having a little bit of a hard time with your term "used" Yorkie. For those of us involved with rescue or who have adopted rescued Yorkies we try to make sure people understand these are not second rate dogs...in fact they are very special....

Okay having said that, how did you get him? Through a shelter, rescue, family member, newspaper etc. HOw much do you know of his history?

He might be peepad trained (do you have some down)? I can tell you when I get up in the morning...it is a mad dash to get outside..just like us humans...it is one of the first things we do when we get up. My dogs sleep with me and once I stand up I have to take them outside. Maybe this is how he was trained...?

[MikeJillMonty]

oh no, he's not second rate at all. We love Monty. We treat him very well. He's a purebread. I know he has a thick packet that has his family history but I wouldn't know what to do with that.

We got him from a family thats gave him away for cheap plus another dog as they are an older couple retired, and they will be traveling a lot so no time to devote.

I said "used" as this is my first dog that I didn't get when it was fairly new born from a breeder.

We asked a lot of questions about him before we got him and they said they let him sleep with them. We're just afraid we're going to crush him as he's so small.

[zekie's mom]

If he was used to sleeping in bed at night, that may be the probelm. We have slept with our Yorkie every since we got him at only 2 pounds. He is about 7 now.

[jacksonsmum]

This is just my opinion but I think if you do not want him in your bed then you should not start a habit of it. He also might end up peeing or pooping in your bed or he might just wake you up early anyway.

I had a yorkie many years ago that would mess in my bed while i slept so that method did not work for me .It is also hard when they are older to get them out of bad habits. To me it also seems like rewarding bad behavior but again that is just my opinion.

Does he have a bed of his own or you could possible start to crate him gradually and have him in the crate near your bed at night for sleep. My dogs sleep in their carrier beds and love them. I cover them over and it is like they feel safe. It is a denning instinct dogs have.They dont make a sound all night and one of them is only three months old.

If he still go's in the house in the day you might have to confine him to a smaller area like a pup for a while.

Good luck anyway